After the meeting, Axelrod told reporters: "I think that the American people understand that the status quo works very well for insurance companies. It doesn’t always work well for them and I think that they’re going to be heard."

The White House officials also urged senators to stick to the game plan and not let themselves become distracted by criticism and town hall protests being organized by conservative and business groups.

Democratic lawmakers watched videos of protesters disrupting town-hall meetings and discussed how they should react in similar situations.

Democrats have already begun to focus their rhetoric on health insurance companies. A strategy memo obtained by The Hill last week shows that leaders have developed a strategy to attack insurance companies.

Democratic leaders have also begun an effort to discredit healthcare protesters who have begun showing up in droves when lawmakers meet with constituents to discuss healthcare reform. But some of their colleagues are wary of that strategy.

“People have strong views about healthcare reform,” he said. “The overwhelming majority of Americans want to participate. They want to know how it affects them, and what it will do with their health insurance through what it will do with their healthcare costs. Those are legitimate questions.”